Together at the End
by Ione
Summary: An alternate possibility for Thor: The Dark World. If Loki had been punished differently by the All-Father, and Jane had set him free...what choices would he make? What shape would his revenge take? And what would he do with the woman who had only done what she thought she must? ONESHOT


Together at the End

A Lokane gift fic for gigglesmcsquee

The chaos was muted down here, layers of stone and countless stairways muffling the yells and clashes of steel in the throne room above. Loki took a moment at the threshold of the Vault to remove his helmet. Sweat ran in a slow, sticky stream down from his temples and the back of his neck. He wiped it away with one shaking, cold hand.

Everything would be all right once this was done. All he had to do was complete his mission. Take the Tesseract—deliver it to Thanos—and vanish. He would be well away when Ragnarok began.

He let his helmet fall away as he walked. There were no threats down here. His distractions above were working too well. Neither Thor nor the All-Father would realize what he was doing until it was too late, and Frigga…

_No_. He had had no choice. None of this was his choice.

"Loki,"

A narrow silhouette, outlined in the ghostly blue light of the Tesseract, stood between him and his goal. He recognized her immediately; damn girl, how had she known?

"Move," he said, fury flooding his body with icy fire.

"No," the word was quietly, but firmly spoken. Jane didn't flinch, didn't quail as she stood, a flimsy shield between him and the Tesseract.

He towered over her, searching her face for any traces of fear. Either she was numb from the same pain that hollowed out his heart or she was a fool, for she did not retreat an inch. He reached out and encircled her neck—thin bones delicate as a bird's—and smiled when he felt her bucking pulse.

"How long have you lived amongst us, Jane Foster? Long enough to think you _know_ us? Know _me_?"

"I saved your life," she said, one hand coming up to tug uselessly at his, "Lady Frigga and I…we saved you from that torture."

He snarled as the memory of the serpent's venom coursed like lightning down the length of his spine. "I did not ask for your sympathy!"

Tears welled in Jane's eyes and her hand closed gently around his wrist. "Yes, you did. When I found you, you begged me to save you. I'll never forget it—the way you screamed. Your blood was everywhere. When I told Lady Frigga, she cried."

He threw her from him, hardening himself to her cry of pain as she fell hard against the stone. "Pathetic," he knew not whether the word was for him or her, "You worked to set me free and now you reap the reward. I owe you nothing."

"No," Jane knelt, feeling her bruised throat with trembling fingers, "you owe _her_. I saw her die, Loki! I saw you watch her die! And you didn't stop it," she was crying now, tears catching at the edge of her lips, "You did nothing."

"Enough!" he cried, but his voice was weak. He could have screamed himself raw and it would not have kept the image of Frigga—All-Mother, _his mother_—falling against the wall, face blank at the realization of her own death, hand pushing feebly at the blade that pierced her heart.

"Loki," and she was there, right there, just as she had been when the chains had been broken from his wrists and ankles and he'd fallen forward into her arms. "Please," her hands clutched at his shoulders, his back, just as they had when she'd soothed him, hushed his cries of thanks and relief, "You don't have to do this."

Memories of darkness and pain. Memories of comfort and sunlight. His mother. Jane. Jane who reached for stars, who valued knowledge, who smiled at him…who saved him.

He reached around and took her hands in his. He allowed himself one moment of rest inside the fragile smile that touched her mouth, one instant of peace within the dawning hope in her eyes.

Then his hand closed around both her wrists, strong as a shackle. "Yes, I must."

When the Tesseract was in his hand, he felt the power that would end the world coursing through him, and knew that this was the right choice.

Loki held Jane Foster to him, and together they disappeared.


End file.
